Pair alleges they were not paid for work done on Lady Incredible

Two women are suing a P.E.I. production company over unpaid work they did on a project filmed in the province.

Makeup artist Jenepher Reynolds says she spent 16 hours working in July on a show called Lady Incredible: Where Travel Meets Incredible Women — a project being pitched as a TV pilot that is also to be developed into a full-length documentary DVD.

Reynolds, owner of a cosmetics business called About Face, says she was only paid for five hours work and is still owed $625.

She says the production company, called Red Island Media, finally gave her a cheque for the money she was owed after providing a host of excuses for delaying payment. However, the cheque bounced.

A similar scenario unfolded for another person who worked on the pilot.

This woman, who asked to remain anonymous, says she was given many excuses as to why she needed to wait for the $2,800 she earned working on the show that features interesting women in P.E.I.

Eventually, like Reynolds, she received a cheque that bounced.

She says the owner of Red Island Media, Catherine Anderson, told her to “sit tight’’ after learning there were no funds in an account to cover the cheque.

“She was not apologetic or anything,’’ she said.

The woman says she has never encountered a problem before in receiving pay during a lengthy career working on television and movie productions. She did not sign a contract with Anderson but believes she is in a strong position to sue for money owing.

“We shook hands and it’s all written in emails,’’ she said of the work agreement.

She describes as a last resort suing Anderson and Red Island Media, which is billed on its website as a company that provides a complete range of cost-effective media services including Internet marketing, advertising, film and TV production.

Anderson told The Guardian the two women in question claim to be owed more than was agreed to. Yet Anderson did not seem able to explain why she issued cheques to the pair for the amount they have been seeking — or why there were no funds to cover the cheques.

Anderson would only say she wants the issue resolved.

She refused to comment on the status of the project. Heather Wilson, the program’s host and co-creator, says the show is in post-production and should be finished shortly.

A third woman, who also asked not to be named, told The Guardian “it took many, many, many emails with many broken promises’’ before she was paid for her work on the project.

“I’ve never had this happen to me in this line of work,’’ she said.

“I’ve worked on lots of movies and shows. What I think they’ve done is totally unprofessional ... the truth is you don’t expect this on P.E.I.’’

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XComa

February 06, 2013 - 07:13

I would guess there are many many more people making less than $2800/mo then there are making more than, in spite of the claims of the 'average' income of Islanders.... What is with all the suing lately?

Neil I think you should re-read the article, looks to me as if there was over $3000. not paid by Red Island Media. One person didn't get paid $2800., that's a months salary for many people. The article shows that Red Island Media and it's owner "Anderson" are not to be trusted which is as important to know as the money that was not paid.

If it is small claims court, then good luck with that. You will probably win your case, and discover that you are powerless to recover your money anyway. You are doing the right thing by going public, thereby warning others not to trust the people who owe you the money. Thank you.